Rams Ready to Deal With Christian McCaffrey Conundrum Again

The Los Angeles Rams are facing the same All-Pro rusher but in far different ... and much more hated ... colors.

Christian McCaffrey has perhaps spent more time on Californian football fields than some Los Angeles Rams. 

That's certainly not meant to be a jab at the Rams' practice and preparation, as the defending Super Bowl champions are coming off their bye week, leaving them more likely to be found in the gym rather than the turf. McCaffrey, one of the newest San Francisco 49ers, is likely eagerly anticipating the Bay Area's own bye week to build some stability in a new setting, having recently come over in a trade with the Carolina Panthers.

Only a Sunday meeting with the Rams (1:25 p.m. PT, Fox), who nearly won the battle for his services, separates McCaffrey and some much-needed rest. The showdown at SoFi Stadium holds great importance for the fate of the NFC West with the quartet separated by a single game and McCaffrey is poised to co-author that epic one way or another.

His work was a mere footnote two weeks ago, though it served as his Carolina coda. The woebegone Panthers kept pace with the Rams better than many thought they could thanks in part to McCaffrey's 158 yards from scrimmage, though that didn't prevent them from falling 24-10. 

Head coach Sean McVay believes that McCaffrey's pairing with a coach like Kyle Shanahan will only make him even more dangerous, especially with a full week of preparation under his belt.

"Kyle does a great job of being able to take advantage of a versatile player that could do everything," McVay said. "There are no limitations in his game, so we have to be able to play sound defense, do a great job, and we're looking forward to the challenge.”

McVay's teams are quite familiar with what Shanahan is capable of, having dropped seven of the last eight meetings to his 49ers ... the lone outlier, of course, being the most recent NFC title game. 

Sent west for draft picks, McCaffrey is expected to kickstart a 49ers offense that lost its starting quarterback Trey Lance at the start of the year. Having spent less than a week in red and gold, McCaffrey picked up 62 yards on 10 touches in a respectable effort that wasn't nearly enough to prevent the Kansas City Chiefs from running away with a 44-23 decision. 

The Rams are thus in an unusual spot where they'll face McCaffrey in consecutive contests. It's an unusual situation, one the Rams acknowledge they'll have to prepare for.

"I think he's really, really good at finding the holes when he is running so we need to be conscious of that," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "Obviously, the 49ers have a lot of gap runs that complement his game very well. So, I just think we need to be understanding (of) how they're going to try to attack our edges and attack the inside of our defense."

Tackling has been an issue for the Rams, a quandary that Wagner says the team is "conscious" of. 

Wagner compared what McCaffrey brings to the first San Francisco offenses he faced, those led by quarterback Colin Kaepernick, citing a shift in focus from misdirection to personnel. He's looking forward to seeing what McCaffrey can do in this new iteration ... within reason, of course.

"You just study formations and understand that they're going to have two or three new formations that they haven't shown yet," Wagner said. "I'm pretty sure they didn't show everything they could do with McCaffrey this last game so we're going to get different personnels with him. 

"It's always fun, it's chess. So you sit there, watch the film, and figure out what they're going to do.”

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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